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Set for North American sale in August, the sporting SUV slots into the Porsche lineup between the existing Cayenne S and the Cayenne Turbo, with a price of $83,025 including shipping charges.

Among the visual changes for the GTS is a Cayenne Turbo-style front bumper, unique sills underneath the doors and a twin-vane wing atop the tailgate. Helping to lend the new model a more aggressive air is a 0.9-inch reduction in ride height over the Cayenne S--something Porsche is keen to point out also reduces the crucial center of gravity for what it describes as "adding handling prowess."

Like its predecessor, the new Cayenne GTS continues to be powered by a naturally aspirated version of Porsche's in-house-designed and -produced 4.8-liter V8. But it is now mated to a standard eight-speed automatic gearbox instead of the six-speed manual unit used by first-generation model launched in 2008, with drive channeled permanently to all four wheels.

Power is up by 14 hp, rising from 400 hp to 414 hp, or 20 hp more than the Cayenne S, which runs a detuned version of the same engine. Porsche has not yet divulged a torque figure for the latest addition to its existing five-strong Cayenne lineup, but expect it to be in the region of 384 lb-ft.

What Porsche does confirm is a slight straight-line performance gain over the old Cayenne GTS; the new model is claimed to sprint from 0 to 62 mph 0.4 second faster than its manual-gearbox-equipped predecessor, at 5.7 seconds. That is 0.8 second faster than the old model with its optional six-speed automatic gearbox. Porsche also says that the new GTS will run from 0 to 100 mph in 13.3 seconds and tops out at 162 mph.

With new fuel-saving features such as automatic stop/start and brake-energy recuperation, average fuel consumption has improved by 6.2 mpg, to 22.0 mpg on the European test cycle.

The Cayenne GTS rolls on a standard steel-sprung suspension, but owners can opt for an optional air suspension that can be combined with Porsche's Dynamic Corning Control, an antiroll system that employs hydraulically controlled stabilizer bars to reduce lean.